


It Only Takes a Taste

by Hazellum, MelodyoftheVoid



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Blood Drinking, Denial of Feelings, Eye Horror, Hypnotism, I have no excuse for this, Kinda, M/M, Sickfic, Suggestive Themes, Vampires, gaz once again has the only braincell, idk what I'm doing man, leave me be, listen, vampire lore be wild
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:41:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25824532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hazellum/pseuds/Hazellum, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodyoftheVoid/pseuds/MelodyoftheVoid
Summary: Dib Membrane did not get sick. He did not.
Relationships: Dib & Gaz (Invader Zim), Dib/Zim (Invader Zim)
Comments: 67
Kudos: 132





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first collaboration!!! Super happy with how this turned out, Hazel wrote the excellent fight scene while I'm responsible for... the rest of it...

Dib did not get sick. 

That wasn’t to say that Dib hadn’t felt sick, allergies were apparently out of his father’s area of expertise, but he’d never gotten severely ill before. So, when he woke up feeling like he’d been hit by a train he knew something was wrong. 

He tried to roll over onto his side, but his limbs ached to the core, to the point where twitching his fingers was a herculean task too great for him. 

“Hey idiot! Get out of bed!”

A groan left Dib as his sister shouted at him from downstairs. There was no way he could get out of school was there? It wasn’t like his dad would make the call to the office even if he was home to do it. A second attempt to lift himself went better than the first, with Dib managing to fully sit up. Ok, he could do this, it would be highly unpleasant, but he could do it. 

One step proved otherwise. The minute he stood up, his vision became static and his legs collapsed underneath him, sending him to the floor with a resounding thud. 

“Ok that’s it, I’m coming in there.” 

Dib could barely lift his head to glance up at his sister, his head pulsing in painful unison with his heart. A muffled “Hey Gaz” was all the greeting he could muster, his throat feeling like sandpaper.

Without his glasses, his sister’s expression was impossible to read. Dib waited with growing dread as the silence stretched out into an eternity. 

“You look like shit.”

“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed.” 

Ok replying was a mistake. Pain laced his throat in retaliation for his snarky comment. Dib let his head drop back to the floor, ready to accept his fate at the hands of his sister. 

“Well you’re obviously not going to take me to school.”

Wait what? 

“Dib, you look like you haven’t been outside in weeks you’re so pale. I’m pretty sure I heard Mrs. Bitters’ voice just now too. I’ll call Dad or threaten the office to mark you absent. I expect payment when you feel better though.” 

The carpet bent slightly at his sigh of relief. 

“You’re the best.”

“I know. But if I get sick too, you’re dead.”

Dib gave a weak thumbs up as Gaz effortlessly hoisted him back into his bed. She left the room and came back with a water bottle and a box of crackers. 

“Call me if it gets worse. No wait, text me. I don’t need to hear you rasping over the phone. Your voice is annoying enough when it doesn’t sound like death.” 

With that, she walked out, closing the door firmly behind her. Dib stared up at the glow in the dark stars on his ceiling, wracking his brain for why he felt like garbage. Zim hadn’t boasted about mastering the human body, or made any remarks about germs, so that was unlikely. There weren’t any reports of any major illnesses in the area, nor was it possible for him to develop any major conditions on a dime regardless of what WebMD said. So, what was wrong? 

The Bigfoot hunt. Dib felt like facepalming if it didn’t take up so much effort. He’d stayed out in the woods for so long he’d fallen asleep. Of course he caught something out there. He figured that his cryptid hunting would catch up to him eventually, but he’d always assumed he’d get killed by Zim or some other creature. But no. He’d just gotten sick. 

To be fair, the whole trip had been a disaster. He’d almost broken his camera tripping over a tree root, then smacked face-first into said tree disturbing the bee’s nest in the branches. He ran from the bees, getting stung a handful of times in the neck (odd place for a bee sting but whatever), and managed to run so far off the trail he spent the rest of the day meandering in the woods. At some point he passed out and woke up freezing cold. Thankfully he got home at a semi-reasonable hour, but that didn’t matter. 

So here he was. Busted camera, no proof, and no way of stopping Zim if he decided to do something. To be fair Zim only seemed to want to conquer the world every once in a while, but you never know with him. And at least his camera was only partially broken. One of his mutual friends on the cryptid forums once broke almost 22 disposable cameras on a trip. Sure, in the end it was some local kook with a giant robot but ever since he’d tried to be extra careful with his equipment. 

With little else to do, Dib took a sip of water and curled back into the covers. Hopefully this illness would pass soon, and things could just go back to normal. 

48 hours and numerous bottles of water later, that hope was dashed into the ground. No matter how much sleep he got, medicine he consumed, or water he drank, he still felt like complete garbage. While his limbs no longer ached as much, it hurt to breathe much less speak. He’d tried every possible cure, both medicinal and non-traditional, but nothing seemed to work. Well nothing except the honey, but he’d quickly run out of that. With Foodio out of commission yet again, Dib was left to suffer. 

Almost worse than the symptoms not going away was Gaz. Dib was fairly used to their routine prior to this point: they’d come home, Gaz would take her place at her computer, he’d do research/homework unless Zim was up to something, they’d have dinner, and the rest of the night would be spent apart. Now though? She hovered like the world’s most motherly vulture. 

She ‘asked’ if she could play her GameSlave in his room to keep an eye on him and has not so subtly been bringing him whatever it seemed like he needed. He’d ask why she was doing it, but that seemed like an extra bad idea given the fact he was just now able to move around the house without collapsing into a useless heap. He didn’t need to add a broken bone into the mix. 

But Dib was starting to get stir crazy. Illness be damned he wanted out of the house even if it was to go to school of all places. Building up all the courage he had, he wrote out a note to Gaz explaining that while yes, he couldn’t talk at all, odds were it was ok for him to go to school. He could take well enough care of himself. Gaz raised an eyebrow at his plea to leave the house, but shrugged and said, “Your funeral.” Still, when he checked his backpack before school, he found a pack of honey cough drops that he _definitely_ did not buy. 

He really loved his sister sometimes.

The drive to school went pretty well all things considered. He only almost swerved into oncoming traffic twice, which was honestly better than when he wasn’t sick. He would be the first to admit that he was easily distracted on the road much to Gaz’s eternal ire. 

Everything went downhill the second he got into class though. He did his best to ignore the whispers and snickers of his classmates, handing a note to Mrs. Bitters explaining his absence. Slumping in his seat, Dib lamented all the homework he’d need to catch up on. A sweet scent stopped that pity party right in its tracks. He’d never smelled anything like it, fruity, almost saccharine. Dib looked around, almost desperate to find where it was coming from. His stomach growling in response. Dib locked eyes with Zim from across the room as the invader sat down. 

Fuck.

Of course the source was Zim. Did the universe not punish him enough? Was his current state not embarrassing enough? Dib would scream if his throat wouldn’t rupture at the action. 

The day dragged on at an agonizing pace, and every so often, Dib would catch himself staring at Zim. At one point he drooled. _Drooled_. Zim definitely had something to do with this and there was no force on Earth that would stop him from getting answers. 

Well, he had to drive Gaz home first, but aside from that nothing would stop him. 

Stalking up to the ugly house, Dib heard his stomach growl again, fatigue snaking its way through his limbs. He shook it off, determined to get to the bottom of whatever scheme Zim was… scheming this time. 

God he was exhausted. 

Dodging the lasers of the gnomes was second nature at this point, years of studying their movements made the journey easy, even if his coat received a few more singes than usual. The door swung open with a start, and that delicious scent hit him again at full force. 

Zim’s berry pink eyes blinked at Dib in confusion, the alien sitting with his robot companions as an animated movie blared on the screen. 

“Dib-stink? What are you doing here?”

“You did something to me Zim, I know it!” Dib’s vision blurred for a moment, throat aching in protest, the hunger almost painful now, “I don’t know what you did while I was sick, but just because you applied some fancy pheromones or whatever won’t let you win!” 

“What? What in the earth-hell are you speaking of? Zim hasn’t planned- I mean I would never stoop so low. If I am to defeat you, it will be when you look less like complete dookie.”

Dib lunged, somewhat indignant about the dig at his appearance. 

“Oh? I’d say the same, but you always look awful!” Dib retorted, stomping his foot. As his stomach growled, Dib paced around Zim’s living room. The pain of speaking lessening, replaced by a burning sensation. 

“How dare you! I am magnificent, the PEAK of Irken beauty! You will PAY for your insolence, Dib-Human!” Zim said, standing up from his spot on the couch.

“I thought I looked too much like dookie? Are you admitting I don’t?” Dib said, smirking at Zim.

“No. But I am willing to make an exception!” Zim replied, as he used his Pak legs to launch himself at Dib. As Zim soared towards Dib. Dib raised his arms into a defensive position, and slid one leg backwards for balance.

However, when Zim slammed into Dib, instead of being knocked over, Dib was just… pushed backwards. “Wait, what?” he muttered to himself, as he pushed Zim backwards.

It was supposed to be just a mildly strong push, enough to get Zim off of him. Instead, Zim went flying through the room, landing against the far wall, sliding down over the television. 

“That’s… not normal,” Dib said, looking at his hands, before his face lit up. “Ha! Zim, you try to stop me and just make me stronger!” Dib laughed, pointing at Zim.

When Zim leapt at Dib again, Dib made a point of ignoring the way his stomach growled. He just hadn’t eaten since breakfast, that was all. Even then he hadn’t eaten much. That was all.

“Oh! Mary’s hungry! Imma go make waffles!” Gir shouted, jumping up from the couch and running from the room.

“Wait! Gir, help me fight the Dib!” Zim yelled after his robot.

“Awww, but I don’t want to interrupt your date!” Gir shouted from the kitchen, as he began throwing a bag of flour whole into a mixing bowl.

“IT’S NOT A DATE!” both Dib and Zim shouted, before Zim launched Dib towards the ceiling. It was high up, so the Dib would be a… what was the Earth phrase? Laying goose? Standing Swan? Eh, whatever. Dib would be helpless.

Pacing around the room as Dib watched from the cables and rafters near the ceiling, Zim ranted about how he had done nothing to Dib, and it was in fact Dib who had done something to him, making him queasy whenever Dib was nearby.

“Wait, what? That sounds… familiar,” Dib said, furrowing his eyebrows. 

“Of course it sounds familiar! You infected Zim with some sort of awful Earth-Stink Stinky Virus of Doom!” Zim shouted, stomping his feet before using his Pak legs to jump up towards Dib. “And for this you will pay!”

Panicking, Dib ducked down, and let Zim pass overhead. Reaching up, he grabbed Zim’s ankle and swung the alien around, back towards the ground. However, once again he used an inhuman amount of force, and Zim instead went flying through the window. As the glass shattered, Dib was at first concerned.

However, as he looked at the window, he felt his eyes being drawn to the splash of magenta on the sharp edges left where the glass broke. He couldn’t look away.

And then the smell hit him. It was indescribable, it was… need. He NEEDED it. Whatever it was, he HAD TO HAVE IT. IT WAS HIS. IT BELONGED TO HIM. Shaking his head, Dib was startled. What the hell was that? Dib was distracted again as Zim crawled back through the window, cutting himself more on the glass. With Zim actually back in the room now, the smell was indescribably strong. It assaulted his nose, overwhelming him.

In that moment, but one thought filled his mind: prey.

In the next, another: his.

A part of Dib was screaming, screaming, screaming about how wrong this was. How awful it was, how disgusting it was. But with each passing second that he was overwhelmed by this scent, the voice grew quieter, And louder grew another voice. This voice was filled with hunger, with desire. And with something else, something at the moment, Dib couldn’t put his finger on. It’s hard to pinpoint something in a haze.

His eyes locked on Zim, Dib reached up, and hooked his fingers through the metal of the ceiling tearing through it. Flipping his body midair, Dib was now crawling along the ceiling. And in that moment, Zim knew something was very, very wrong. 

However, he was Zim! Nothing scared him! He wasn’t scared AT ALL! Sure, humans weren’t supposed to be able to do that, but hey! It was… not unsettling at all!

As Dib drew closer, and Zim sank into a battle stance, Zim felt his spooch chill. Something was wrong with Dib’s eyes. Zim could see it clearly, even with Dib just barely starting to crawl headfirst down the wall.

Normally, Dib’s eyes had three main parts, like any human’s; the pupil, the iris, and the sclera. Now, however, there seemed to be four. A strange glow hid in the center of Dib’s pupils, which had themselves grown to unimaginable size. And… they were still growing. Human eyes weren’t supposed to be able to DO that. 

When the pupils completely blotted out the iris and sclera, Zim thought it was over. Dib’s eyes were as weird as they were going to get. Instead, however, they started to drip blackk. Not from the tear ducts; no, instead, it seemed like black water was oozing from that glow. Dib’s eyes looked hollow, empty. The black ran down his face, seeping back into his skin as it did so. Zim felt sick.

And the look on Dib’s face… Zim had to admit, it was disturbing. He looked like a starved animal, yes. But it was what was behind this that perturbed Zim. Dib’s face was twisted, stretched, and he was salivating. The starved look had a look of softness behind it, buried deep, that flickered.

For a moment, Zim thought he would be safe. Whatever was affecting Dib, however scary the human may look, that look of softness meant safety, right?

Zim realized his mistake when Dib lunged, his fingers bent into claws, Zim knew it did not. Whatever had taken the Dib’s mind, whatever hunger it was, Zim was not safe. Zim needed to run.

As Zim slipped through his grasp, Dib yowled like an angry wildcat. It sounded… mournful, but angry. And starving. Unlike Dib in every way. Still on all fours, his limbs at unnatural angles, spread out across the ground, Dib blinked, his eyes glazing over. The smell. Smell was still here. Where.

His head twisting around in a way no human neck should ever be able to, crackling like a fire, Dib’s gaze locked onto the window. Wet blood still glistened on the glass.

Scurrying up the wall, Dib began to lap at the blood like an animal. The more he consumed, the more his sanity returned. He stood on two legs, first. Then, instead of lapping at it, Dib wiped it away with his finger bit by bit. Eventually, however it was all gone. 

And his stomach still felt empty.

“Zii~iim~ Where aaare you?” he crooned, as his eyes returned to… not normal. But more normal than they had been, certainly. Walking into the kitchen, he saw the last of Zim disappear into the trash can that led to his base proper.

Dib watched as his prey retreated into the depths of his base, seemingly unaware that he practically knew the place by heart. Even if that were not the case, the tantalizing aroma of blood was a dead giveaway of his location. 

He crept along the labyrinth of cables, never too far from Zim, yet separated by a wall of metal. 

There! A vent brought him one step closer, yet, he did not want his prey to fight him. As much as the fight gave him a thrill, it was… inefficient. Sloppy. It wasted that precious liquid that he craved. No, he wanted it directly, willingly. To see his alien submit to him, allow Dib to take what he wanted, now that appealed to him far more. 

Were Dib in his right mind, he would freeze in his tracks, horrified by the thoughts he’d done his best to relegate to the farthest corners of his mind making themselves known once more. But Dib was starving. 

And his right mind was nowhere to be seen. 

_“Zim,”_ a voice that was both his and not crooned, “ _won’t you come here?_ ” 

A familiar green form froze as he exited the elevator, a soft whirring emitting from his PAK. A single leg emerged, hesitant and shaky. Laser primed. 

“ _My precious space-boy, there’s no need for that.”_

The sharpened steel folded back into its container. Zim was still tense, antennae twitching wildly as a flurry of emotions flew across his face. 

“D-Dib?” Lavender rose up Zim’s face, “Dib you’re being weird. Stop your vampire nonsense. Zim has plenty of wooden stakes! I won’t let you eat my blood candies!”

“ _Oh Zim, why would you do that_ ? _Would you really kill me?”_

Zim faltered, fear and tension making way for concern and something else. Perfect. Zim moved toward Dib’s hiding spot, his antennae perked in the direction of his voice. 

“If it kept you from draining me of my blood? Yes. Obviously.”

“ _Mi dulce, nunca podría vivir sin ti. Eres mi razón para vivir. ¿Matarte? Eso me mataría.”_

“Dib…” The lavender darkened as his PAK translated. “Stop speaking nonsense!” 

His prey’s resolve was weakening, it was evident in the way a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, an almost subconscious lean towards him. He was so close to making Zim his.

“ _Yo sé que sientes el mismo, no me mientas Zim.”_

“I-”

His alien backed into the wall, still with options to flee and yet he did not. Dib stepped forward, never breaking eye contact, hand pressing against the cold metal behind Zim, his height making his alien look all the more vulnerable. 

_“Eres mío, y soy tuyo.”_

A fog descended on Zim’s eyes, dulling that spark ever so slightly. Yet, not too much. Something in Dib knew that Zim didn’t need much persuasion. 

_“¿Puedo probarte? ¿Mi regalo de las estrellas?”_

Zim nodded, leaning to one side and exposing the pale green skin that stood between him and what he wanted.

Dib’s fangs pierced through Zim’s neck and _ohhh._ The faint traces he’d enjoyed could not begin to compare to the source. Even the most expensive honey on Earth could never begin to compare. The Irken melted in his hands, his chirps filling the air as Dib fed. Dib purred in kind. No, that wasn’t quite right. The word escaped him in his ecstasy. It didn’t matter anyway. No, all that mattered was his alien, his Zim, _his._

How could anything ever compare to this? 

After what was an eternity and an instant, Dib pulled away, licking the last remnants of pink ichor from his fangs. The satisfaction unlike any sensation he could begin to describe. With the hunger gone, and the instincts at bay, reality decided to crash in on Dib like a freight train. 

“Oh god.”

Zim seemed to come to a similar realization, the remaining blood draining from his face as his eyes widened in horror. 

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ZIM?”

Dib scrambled for an explanation but all that he was able to muster was a panicked scream. Without a second glance, he scrambled up the elevator, sprinting all the way home and into the safety of his room. 

With the adrenaline gone, Dib could now get to enjoy his brain replaying the past few events on loop in horrifying clarity.

What _was_ that? Did he seriously? Did he say that? To _ZIM???_

That did _not_ just happen. No way. 

No. 

Nope. 

Because Dib didn’t have any feelings for Zim. 

He did not. 

  
  



	2. Before You're Coming Back For More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib gets to enjoy the endless joy of sibling teasing, as well as Gaz and his own brain yelling at him to take a hint.

Dib sat shock still  for at least several hours, or at least, that’s what it felt like. Mind unable to process what he’d just done. His face burning red hot from embarrassment rather than a fever for the first time in several days. 

On complete autopilot, he sat on his bed, curling his knees into his chest and attempting to make his lungs cooperate. 

What the fuck. 

_ What the fuck. _

This couldn’t be real, there was no way, there was just. This wasn’t possible. 

The lingering taste of Zim’s blood on his lips told him that yes, this was all very,  _ very _ , real.

Ok, focus Membrane. Run through what happened, analyze it. Get to the bottom of this. The better you can understand what happened the more likely you’ll be to get to a solution. 

Point one, he’d been bitten, again, by vampire bees. 

Point two, the effects were way more severe this time, leading to his illness a few days prior. 

Point three, he’d gone into a complete bloodlust after Zim got cut on the window.

Point four...

“Dib? Are you still alive? Dib, it’s been 4 hours, come get dinner.” 

Oh god it had been several hours. Still, he couldn’t find it in himself to move. Could he even eat regular food like he used to? Did he need to exclusively eat honey and… Zim’s blood…

The memory of that moment, the feeling of Zim in his arms, the rush of euphoria as he sunk his fangs in, the symphony of chirps, he was so lost in that swirl of emotions Gaz’s presence refused to register until she smacked him across the face.

“What happened with Zim this time?”

Dib shoved his glasses back into place, the unimpressed scowl firmly planted on his sister’s face glared down at him.

“What?”

Gaz raised an eyebrow, “Seriously? Am I supposed to believe you went to someone other than Zim’s house? Right. Also, you look marginally less like shit. Did your boyfriend cure you or something?”

For once the insult didn’t quite land, a piece of him buzzed at the idea of Zim being his, but he shook it off, grimacing now both at himself and his extremely unhelpful subconscious. 

“Not… exactly.”

Gaz looked him over again, “So you are feeling better then. Didn’t think that you’d have been able to sprint into the house like that a few days ago.”

“That’s true,” Dib weakly admitted. 

“You never answered my question though dumbass, did Zim help you? Given how red you are I’d say you declared your undying love and devotion to him or something.”

Somehow the blush on his face intensified, Dib was sure he was rivaling Clembrane in hue. 

“Dead god in heaven you did,” Gaz let out a chortle, “Oh my god you did!”

The normally stoic girl doubled over laughing, tears streaming down her face as she struggled to breathe. Dib was glad his misery continued to serve as her entertainment after all these years. He sat in silence as Gaz’s laughs slowly trailed off into a few gasping giggles, slowly straightening up. 

“Are you done now?” Dib’s self-preservation instinct seemed to have died with his dignity down in Zim’s lab, “I have a serious problem.”

“D-hah-damn right you do. It took you this fucking long to realize that you had feelings for Zim? Half the school is involved in a betting pool to see when you idiots finally get together. Looks like I’m going to get that pre-order I’ve been saving up for.”

“SHUT UP! IT WASN’T LIKE I DID IT WILLINGLY! It just- The fucking vampire curse- And I was so hungry- And... “

The mirth drained a bit from Gaz’s eyes, replaced by confusion, “What do you mean vampire curse?”

“Well  _ apparently _ I got stung by a stronger strain of vampire bees, and due to that, I went through the whole transformation thing, which is why I was so sick, and wouldn’t you know it, that process makes you incredibly feral if you don’t consume any honey!” Dib stood up, pacing the room, clutching his hair, “And just because the universe extra hates me, Irken blood is very sweet! So when I went to fight Zim, I just-”

“Went batshit?”

“YEAH! PRETTY MUCH! SO FORGIVE ME FOR BEING A BIT ON EDGE!”

The Membrane siblings fell silent, the only sound in the room Dib’s padding footsteps, tracing a pattern on the worn rug. 

“You should probably talk to Zim, you know. Make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

“Gaz I literally confessed to him in Spanish with the cheesiest lines known to man. I would rather die than talk to him again.”

“Come on, just tell me one of them. It cannot be as bad as my first attempt at asking out Zita.” 

Dib quit pacing, “Gaz. I called him mi regalo de las estrellas. Yes it was that bad.”

Hands raised in mock surrender, Gaz made her way to the door, very obviously doing her best not to laugh. 

“I stand corrected then, that was… that was pretty bad. Anyway, if you finish having your gay panic any time soon, Dad finished fixing Foodio, so you can eat whatever for dinner.”

“Thanks. I’ll… I’ll be down eventually.”   
  
“Just don’t stay up all night thinking about your alien.”

“WHATEVER!” 

Now alone again in his room, the anxiety of what to do next crept back in. He really couldn’t afford to go feral during school, not that his classmates would notice. The apocalypse could rip the school in half and someone would ask if there was a draft. But it’d make maintaining his grades a total nightmare and he feared Mrs. Bitters. How that woman was still alive in any capacity was a mystery he would not grapple with if you paid him. 

He certainly couldn’t get any help from his dad. While the man had improved his overall… lack of presence in the house any mention of vampire bees, blood sucking, and Zim would land him in the world’s least wanted version of the talk. He could take Gaz making jokes about Zim, but his dad?

He’d rather throw himself off the nearest cliff. 

He’d have to hope the Swollen Eyeball Network would be able to help him. Given their… reluctance to acknowledge any posts he made most days, part of him doubted that anyone would give him the time of day. Still he could at least try. 

Pulling up his laptop, he signed onto the forums, seeing a decent amount of active members, including Mystery_Twin618. At least he could count on one person offering decent advice. Taking a deep breath he started composing his message. 

_ Agent_Mothman: Ok, I am in serious need of some help atm. Got bit by a serious strain of vampire bees (pic attached below), was seriously ill for several days and went feral at one point. Enhanced senses and strength, hypnotic voice, fangs, the works. Any known way to reverse the effects or mitigate them? Any advice would be appreciated.  _

_ Attached: Bites.jpg  _

The usual flood of comments asking why he hadn’t been banned yet didn’t phase him at all at this point. It seemed even in a community of outcasts he was on his own. There were a handful of other messages that caught his eye though, trapped in between various insults about his head and a poorly spelled slur, was a brief conversation between a couple of senior members, debating the merits of… what did that say? Protocol 14? 

Probably some way to permaban him. Oh well.

Oh! There was Mystery_Twin618! 

_ Mystery_Twin618: Damn, that’s a tricky one! I’d stock up on some honey to get rid of the worst cravings. I don’t know about any way to reverse the effects unfortunately, but I’ll see what my great uncle can find!  _

That message didn’t last long, one of the moderators apparently not having room for actual advice and deleting. With a huff, Dib shut the computer, resigning himself to figuring this out on his own. As usual. 

It stung that the people he trusted to help him, even online, never took him seriously, and any association with him was just as much of a curse. Seems that despite everything he tried his only two constants were Gaz and… Zim. 

Ugh.

Emotionally and physically drained for the day, he crawled into bed, trying desperately to clear his head of the memories of the day.

Hopefully he could manage this. Somehow.

When he came to again though, he was not in the warm folds of his ufo patterned bedsheets, surrounded by the humming of his many monitors. No, instead, he was curled up on the cushions of Zim’s couch, the television playing a movie he couldn’t recognize. Yet, no panic filled his system.

How could it when Zim nestled so perfectly in his arms? 

The little Irken purred lightly, the sound rising and falling in volume as Dib pet his antenna. 

Some of him wondered how he got here, the events preceding this fuzzy at best. In all honesty, the whole world seemed to be wrapped in a haze, blurring the edges like an old photograph. 

As if noticing his distraction, Zim stopped purring, looking up at Dib with wide eyes, uncovered by those uncanny contacts. 

“Dib-thing? You seem distracted, are you alright?”

Dib felt himself nod his head, a distance between his mind and the actions he took. 

“I’m fine space boy, just a bit thirsty is all. Didn’t take enough honey with me on my latest hunt.”

“Diiib, I told you to pack extra this time!”

“I know, I know,” Dib sheepishly, “I underestimated how long it’d take for the Flatwoods monster to come out of hiding…”

Zim let out a small huff, “Well then. It looks like Zim must be the reasonable one again.” Clawed hands pulled down the edge of the pink turtleneck sweater, exposing an all too familiar bite mark, stark white against ivy skin.

Dib’s face went beet red, his heart pounding wildly in his chest, “Zi-Zim… Are you sure?”

“Of course I am,” ruby red met his gaze, steadfast and assuring, “I trust my Dib.”

The human, no, vampire, leaned down, breath warm against the irken’s cooler skin…

Just as his fangs grazed the tantalizing flesh, the world began to melt away, colors swirling into indistinct shapes, leaving only Zim. And wasn’t that just right? That was how it’d always been, just Dib and Zim, Zim and Dib, the two in constant lock-step, a never ending battle. 

Wasn’t this just the next phase of that? A hatred turned obsession turned passion? 

Then Zim started to fade as well, sad eyes turned up to him in a plea for something he could not name. 

The soft glow of the stars on the ceiling were now his companion, the faint warmth now entirely gone from his arms. Dib’s chest ached without his alien by his side, a vital piece missing from him. It hurt on a level he could barely even begin to comprehend. 

He was alone… alone… alone...

The shrill cry of his alarm all at once brought Dib back to reality. No! No what was he thinking?! The man sat up in bed, burying his face in his hands as his traitorous mind let the memory of the dream linger, ephemeral and fucking embarrassing. 

This whole situation was getting entirely out of hand. Why was this happening? WHY WAS HE LIKE THIS? WHY?!?!

He’d gotten over this, he’d accepted years ago that Zim would A: in no universe stop trying to take over the Earth and B: never be interested in him. Not that he wanted that. At all. Any physical attributes or personality traits that he may or may not like meant nothing if Earth was endangered by his feelings. He couldn’t afford to be selfish. 

But a part of him knew his game of dancing around these feelings could only last for so long given… current events. 

The creeping dry feeling in his throat didn’t help matters either. 

  
If Dib hadn’t suspected the universe or whatever powers that be fucking hated him before, now he knew it for a fact. 

God he did  _ not _ want to go to school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dib will, in fact, not get a break from the universe, aka me. 
> 
> I ended up deviating quite a bit from my original outline, but temptation of a dream sequence was impossible to ignore. It's a classic. Ah well, we can get the boys interacting later I suppose. 
> 
> Zim's having his own crisis off in the distance, that much is certain.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again go out to Hazel for rescuing this fic from the doomed WIP pile. It was a lot of fun! I apologize for the end... I really don't know what the fuck happened there... Also please excuse my shitty Spanish, it's been a while.  
> Translations of the Spanish:  
> -My sweet, I'd never be able to live without you. You are my reason to live. To kill you? It would kill me.  
> -I know you feel the same, don't lie to me Zim  
> -You're mine, and I am yours.


End file.
